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Call it a blur of nostalgia, even if it was more a fiery storm than peaceful vibe. Saturday night at the Royal Canadian Legion #1 ended Sled Island festivities with a stagger down memory lane of sorts Saturday night, at least for those of a certain vintage. Mike Watt, a pioneering force behind the short-lived […]

Discovery is a big part of any music festival, but particularly one that features 250 acts and boasts a forward-looking vision. So Sled Island has no shortage this year of interesting artists poised for discovery, including Birmingham, Alabama singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield. Performing solo under her band name Waxahatchee at Central United Church Thursday night, the […]

The idea that rock ‘n’ roll can be a life-saving force has become a bit of tired cliché. But that adage has always seemed to legitimately apply to Tommy Stinson. At the age of 11, young Tommy was enlisted by his older half-brother, the late Bob Stinson, to play bass guitar in The Replacements, derailing […]

Simply Saucer Formed in Hamilton in 1973, Simply Saucer is about as ‘cult band’ as you can get in Canada. Led by singer and guitarist Edgar Breau, the band released only one single in its initial eight-year existence. But their experimental proto-punk was rediscovered after the release of the 1989 compilation, Cyborgs Revisited and its […]

There’s a reason they call them our formative years. It’s the time when our ideas about who we are, what we like and what we want in life are very much in frame. And as we get older and want to look back on that journey, it doesn’t mean they take on a greater weight than anyone else’s, just that they continue to remain important for us.

In June, Calgary artist Ashleigh Bartlett was creating an art installation at the Palomino Club, as part of the Sled Island Music Festival. Now, a summer later, the Alberta College of Art and Design grad (2006) is scouring the streets of Boston, where she relocated with her partner all of two weeks ago, in search of a studio.

Pushing his baby girl’s stroller on a parched, overgrown path in Prince’s Island Park circa 1970, George Brookman recalls taking in the relaxed, small gathering at one of Calgary’s first Folk Festivals. “We’d sit there, in the dust, on a blanket, eating hotdogs,” laughs Brookman, a longtime Calgarian and Stampede volunteer.

A spokeswoman for the musical festival Sled Island said organziers have been forced to evacuate their 4th Street S.W. offices and are now on standby for possible venue changes for tonight’s performances. Some of the billet houses that were meant to host bands have also been evacuated.

Consider it a show of solidarity for three of its most ardent supporters, a trio who have suffered setbacks through no fault of their own. It’s why organizers of the Polaris Prize have come to Calgary, one year after the flood, to announce their 2014 Long List for the music award with an event Thursday at the National Music Centre during Sled Island.

The remainder of this year’s Sled Island music and arts festival has been cancelled. Organizers announced early Friday morning that due to the flood situation and the safety for attendees, artists and staff that they would unable to continue the event.

Second time’s the charm. Hopefully. Because if Joel Plaskett returns to Sled Island this year and, heaven forbid, his show and the festival are washed out again, he’s going to start taking things personally.

Be you an uninitiated but interested newbie or a battle-hardened veteran of the local music and arts festival Sled Island which is now in its eighth year, here are some tips and thoughts to help you navigate your way through the next jam-packed five-days of festival going.

Denise Clark wants you to think of Radioheaded 2: A Listening Party to Watch as Rabbit-style community theatre. “I just love the spirit of community theatre, and would love to do more myself,” she says, “But this is my way to do that same kind of impulse.”

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